upr000341 198

HENDERSON Mrs. Grace Byrne Reporter _ Office— C. of C. Building — Phone 100? I f your paper js_ g o t delivered, call Ifcfoerj; Ajlen, 3,6. Idaho Way.- Phone 1027W2 24 Las Vjegas ReyjeWr Journal Thur^lay^ Nov<e^ber 29. 1951 At Vital Water Meet This Eve Chamber of commerce direc­tors, eager for top-flight com­ment on the PSC ruling which has denied water to new installa­tions in Las Vegas begun after December 1, are fixing to wel­come Governor Charles Russell at a dinner meeting tonight at -the Last Frontier hotel. Chamber Manging Director William Chamberlain said last night that the governor told him by phone that he would make every effort to attend the meet­ing tonight, in spite of a num­ber of previous commitments. In the event the governor can­not make tonight’s meeting, Chamberlain reported, he has promised to m eet the chamber-men tomorrow. Governor Russell will be in Las Vegas through Saturday of this week, Chamberlain said. In addition to the governor, Chamberlain said Las Vegas Mayor C. D. Baker and Assist­ant City Attorney Ralston Haw-jkins are expected to be at the dinner meeting tonight. The managing director said the governor informed him that he was unaware of the public service commission’s water ban action until after it was taken The chamber men will be seek­ing advice tomorrow night on two possible ways of averting the water ban, according to Chamberlain. They will inquire into the pos­sibility of enjoining the PSC from carrying through its order enying extension of water mains and water service connections to units put under construction after December 1. ! And they will investigate the 'possibility of securing a court order demanding that the Las Vegas Water company provide service to new installations. Chamber officials have also in­vited directors of the: Las Vegas valley water district and water company manager William John­son to attend tomorrow’s meet­ing. A dded Impetus to the cham­ber’s investigation of the recent ban came yesterday, Chamber-lain reported, when it was learn­ed that an individual contem­plating construction of 150 homes, and with a million dollars in escrow to back up his intent, (Continued on Page 2) sS£!I8£s&$:: Russell J (Continued from Page 1 ) allowed that he was powerless to proceed until the' water ban had been settled. Governor Russell, chairman of the Colorado river commission in a statement issued at F ly yes­terday, pledged to give all pos­sible aid to bring about a solu­tion to the critical water prob­lem facing the Las Vegas area should the O’Neil plan fail. The O’Neil plan is one where­by the capacity of the Basic pipeline will be increased from 30 to 50 million gallons of water per day from Lake Mead to Man­ganese ores where the Las Veg­as pipe line would take off. An engineering study is being made to determine the feasibility and cost of this plan. The plant lessees have agreed that if the plan works, that they would agree to furnish 20 million gal­lons of water per day, at cost, to the Las Vegas water district for a period of 10 years, and 365 billion gallons per year there­after. This would provide an imme­diate solution to the water prob­lem, but the water district has been trying to determine what will happen if the O’Neil plan falls through. The governor said he was un­aware of the public service com­mission approval of two new rules for the Las Vegas Land and Water company which shut off all construction of new mains and connections to existing mains after December 1, and didn’t know ,exactly what the impact might be. ? ? ? ? ? ? . ? An appeal to Governor Charles Russell to halt the state public service commission’s order cut­ting off new water supplies to the Las Vegas area will be made today by the board of directors of the Las Vegas Water District. The directors decided after an informal meeting last night that if the governor will not take ac­tion in the matter, they will see if a restraining , order • prevent­ing the Dec. 1 cut-off could be granted by the courts. It was also decided that ac­tion will be taken for either the water district or the city of Las Vegas to buy the Las Vegas Land and Water com­pany from the Union Pacific . Railroad.. During the meeting, Bill Chamberlain, managing director of the Chamber of Commerce, talked by phone with Governor Russell in Ely. The governor said he has no comment on the action shutting off new water mains and con­nections until the talks with Chairman Robert Allen of the public service commission. Governor Russell promised, however, to meeting members of the water district; board, representatives of the chamber of commerce and city officials ; tonight, when he arrives here on the eve of state ta xcommis-sion hearings. Cl